1% Thursday: Back to the Headache/Migraine Diary
It’s been 14 weeks – did you keep up with your headache/migraine diary?
If so, time to pull out the 14 sheets of paper and take a look. What kinds of symptoms are common. Is there a pattern? How often are you having attacks? Does it look like there are different types of attacks (maybe showing different kinds of headaches from different causes)? What about triggers? Are you taking too much medication? Are there other treatments that have worked?
I encourage you to keep up with the diary (and if you haven’t started, now is a great time!). Also, it would be great to talk to your doctor about what you’ve found. Show her the diaries and talk to her about the patterns you’re seeing. It just may lead to a break-through!
What is 1% Thursday?
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Every Thursday at Headache and Migraine News (weather permitting) we’ll talk about one measurable, practical thing we can do to make our lives just 1% better. Usually it will be something very easy, sometimes it will be a challenge. Let us know if you try it, or share an idea of your own – and maybe a year from now we’ll see that things have really changed for the better!
1 October 2009 @ 9:45 pm
James: I very much appreciate your 1% Thursdays! They remind me that there is always something you can do, even if it is a baby step instead of a leap!!
4 October 2009 @ 6:34 am
I have been doing my diary for almost 18 months now. I have also devised my own chart wherein, aside from the usual items in the diary, I could also enter my blood pressure, pulse, the weather, my activities. I even have some notes at the bottom saying I have started taking this supplement or I have stopped eating this food. It is a very helpful tool. I have gained so much understanding about my sickness. Although it’s too chronic and I still can’t take control back over my life, the idea is not to aggravate my condition.
5 October 2009 @ 5:04 pm
Thanks, Emily! That’s certainly what we’re aiming for! 🙂
I’m glad you’ve found it a help, Aurora. Different people find recording different things a help. I think it’s important to do something, even if it’s simple. Sometimes getting detailed does help you find things you wouldn’t otherwise!
7 December 2009 @ 11:44 pm
Hi James,
I couldn’t agree more that keeping a migraine diary is a great idea. But I (personally) couldn’t stand pulling out all those sheets of paper and trying to make sense of it.
I wrote MigraineLiving.com to track my own migraines and report on them. Perhaps some of the visitors would find it useful for tracking and reporting on their own migraine triggers and trends.